Import of Chinese handsets without security code banned

September 6th, 2009 SHIMLA - Himachal Pradesh wants higher import duty on apple juice concentrate from China, saying this was necessary to save the domestic industry. Apple concentrate is used for fruit juices, nectars and drinks.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has sought clarification from three private sector telecom operators for not reporting income from selling handsets along with their connections, a union minister said Monday. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought clarification from Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Esar and Idea Cellular for not showing income from bundling handsets along with connections, for the purpose of calculating revenue share payable to the exchequer, Minister of State for Communications and IT Gurudas Kamat told the Lok Sabha.

July 17th, 2009 Verizon offers small carriers fresher handsetsNEW YORK — Verizon Wireless is offering small cellular carriers a chance to get new phone models faster. Like other large carriers, Verizon Wireless sometimes exclusively locks up new models for six months to a year.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The ban on milk and milk product imports from China, which was to have expired June 24, has been extended by another six months, the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said. "The central government hereby extends the prohibition on import of milk and milk products, including chocolates and chocolate products..., for a period of six months from 24 June, 2009, and until further orders," said a DGFT notification.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India has announced restrictions till January 2010 on the import of all toys that fail to meet international safety standards. Hitherto, the ban only related to Chinese toys.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Import of Chinese mobile phones without unique identity code numbers has been banned, India's commerce ministry announced. "Import of mobile handsets without International Mobile Equipment Identify (IMEI) number or with all-zero IMEI is prohibited with immediate effect, the Director General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite the overall slowdown and driven by unprecedented demand for mobile phone connections, the Indian telecom equipment industry grew 20 percent last fiscal to top $24 billion in revenues, says a new survey. Interestingly, though, the market for mobile and fixed-line handsets grew just 6 percent because of crashing prices and focus on rural market, said the annual survey by Voice and Data, a telecom industry journal of CyberMedia group.

May 3rd, 2009 UN-WTO: No need to ban pork due to swine fluROME — The U.N. and World Trade Organization said Saturday there is no justification for anti-pork trade measures as a result of the swine flu epidemic since there is no evidence the virus is spread by food.

April 28th, 2009 NTT DoCoMo's annual profit falls 3.9 percentTOKYO — NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's top mobile phone carrier, said Tuesday its annual net profit slipped 3.9 percent to 471.9 billion yen ($4.9 billion) as the recession hit sales of handsets. The company sold 20 million handsets during the fiscal year ended March 31, down 21.8 percent year-on-year as more consumers opted to keep their old handsets during tough economic times.

April 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Egypt has withdrawn, with effect from April 8, a temporary import fee it imposed on cotton yarn and textiles in a move that would benefit India, one of the leading producers of cotton yarn. Egypt in January 2009 imposed a fee of 25 percent on CIF value (cost, insurance and freight) on cotton yarn and textiles for a period of one year.

April 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Cheap Chinese handsets that do not have an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) - a unique 15-digit identity code - will be phased out from the Indian market by April 13, industry operators said. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed telephone operators to disconnect services to handsets that do not have the IMEI code as such phones pose security threat, a telecom official said Saturday.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - China can drag India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the ban on Chinese toys here, but 'we believe in resolving the issue through talks', a Chinese minister said here Thursday. 'We can go to international agencies over this issue.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A record 233 cases have been registered in the last 15 days in the capital against political parties over violation of the election conduct code. 'We have registered 233 election related offences in just 15 days.

March 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has relaxed the ban imposed on import of Chinese toys, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said a notification issued Monday. The DGFT notification said that imports will be allowed only if the importer can produce a certificate stating that the toys conform to certain internationally-accepted quality standards.

January 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Department of Telecom's (Dot) decision to ban mobile phones that do not have the international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) - a unique 15-digit identity code for handsets - has been deferred for 'some time', an official said. 'The order is still pending with the (telecom) ministry.